In February we observe Abraham Lincoln’s, our 16th President, birthday. President Lincoln is one of our country’s most beloved presidents for many reasons. He was said to be honest, stood up for those who couldn’t stand for themselves, and spoke what he believed was right to name a few. He had a faith that stirred in him strong convictions that came from being a man of the Word of God. Here are a couple of references he made to in relation to his faith.

Near eighty years ago we began by declaring that all men are created equal; but now from that beginning we have run down to the other declaration, that for SOME men to enslave OTHERS is a “sacred right of self-government.” These principles can not stand together. They are as opposite as God and mammon; and whoever holds to the one, must despise the other. Speech at Peoria, Illinois, on October 16, 1854

The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not be for and against the same thing at the same time. Meditation on the Divine Will ca. September 2, 1862

Nevertheless, amid the greatest difficulties of my Administration, when I could not see any other resort, I would place my whole reliance on God, knowing that all would go well, and that He would decide for the right. Remarks to Baltimore Presbyterian Synod on October 24, 1863

While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for the events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to Almighty God, who gives us victory. Response to a Serenade on May 9, 1864

President Lincoln showed himself to be God fearing man, how do you think that led him to make decisions as a president?

When the relocation centers were closed at the end of World War II, the WRA provided inhabitants who had less than $500 a small sum of money ($25), train fare, and meals on the way home. Many inhabitants, however, had nowhere to go. In the end, some had to be evicted because they had not left the camps.

You and your family have been internees at Manzanar for the past three years. You have hear the war is over and you are free to go. You have been given and envelope with $25 inside and a train tickets for your whole family.

While interned in Manzanar, the Japanese Americans were asked to fill out a ancestry questionnaire to find our where there loyalty landed, with Japan or the U.S. Two questions were asked that caused much frustration, fighting, and hurt among families in the camp. For a moment, put yourself in their shoes, behind barbed wire, in cramped living, not able to leave. Maybe you are an Issei unable to get citizenship in the U.S. and don’t want to loose the ability to be a citizen in Japan.

How would you answer these two questions and why?

Question #27 asked: Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?

Question #28 asked: Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any and all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance to the Japanese Emperor or any other foreign government, power, or organization?